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julieiwuc

Roadtrip to Pacific NW - any nurseries I should look up?

julieiwuc
13 years ago

I am going on a short roadtrip from So. Calif to north of Seattle in early July. Are there any nurseries I should plan to visit in the Portland or Seattle Area? Any good ones for Clemmies?

Julie

Comments (12)

  • buyorsell888
    13 years ago

    Yes.

    Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose has loads of them and many in their display garden. I do think their prices are high and have received poor customer service from them but they are very popular anyway.

    Portland Nursery usually has an above average selection.

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    13 years ago

    I'd second Joy Creek - a wonderfully sited nursery with great display gardens. I've had good experience with them, although I do very little mail order.

    And there are literally scores of great nurseries in the Portland-Seattle area (and everywhere in between) but none that I'd call out as outstanding with regards to clems. All will have some -- it just depends on current stocking as to what you'll find -- the availability comes and goes with the season and the shoppers :-) IMO, it's more a matter of being at the right place at the right time for finding just the right plant you've been looking for.

  • janetpetiole
    13 years ago

    I don't know how close everything is to where you will be, but...

    I heard from someone who went that Joy Creek is a must see.

    Silver Star Vinery is in Washington. You can email Debbie for the address and ask if she allows visitors after she closes the nursery for the season. http://www.silverstarvinery.com/default.asp

    If you really want to make it an all clematis trip, you could visit the Brewster Rogerson Clematis Collection
    http://rogersonclematiscollection.org/?p=45

  • buyorsell888
    13 years ago

    I've been to the Rogerson Collection several times including last weekend and much of them are still in pots in greenhouses. The display garden is very young and it isn't really very impressive. Yet. I'm not criticizing, it is a volunteer organization that relies on donations. They are doing great work. I've attached my pictures. There aren't many because it is so young. There is a big white farmhouse surrounded by heirloom shrubs with Clems planted all through them but they are mostly small. I will upload some new photos to this album later today, must run now. It is located in a scenic area right off the freeway but confirm that they are open before making the trip. I think Hughes Water Gardens which is in the same area is a better tour stop though.

    I've asked Debbie if I could pick up since I live 45 minutes from her nursery and she always says "no" I never asked for a tour, I wanted to buy!

    The rudeness I experienced at Joy Creek was in person, not during a mail order transaction. Their computer listed a Clematis in stock, I called to verify since it is an hour drive or so and when I got there it was out of stock and they were snotty about it. I was also treated rudely at one of their Clematis Festivals by employees who were too busy talking to local author and by local author. I had $100 in my pocket for 5 Clemmies and no one wanted to help me spend it. I actually cried on the way home from their rudeness. I'm still shocked that sales people made me cry and Yes, I'm holding a grudge years later. I'm so NOT a crier. My friend thought something drastic had happened when I called her all choked up.

    I worked in retail for over twenty years and know what customer service is, I'm usually very self sufficient when I shop but this was when I was new to Clemmies and didn't know this forum yet and I had questions. I was excited to be going to a "Clematis Festival" I was there right as it started, it wasn't really busy, there were only a few customers there that morning.

    Local author is lucky I bought her book, she was snotty to me again last weekend (I asked if they had a Clematis for sale that was not one of her favorites) It was like she flipped a switch from nice to "omigod you can't be serious in asking me about that Clematis" though she was very nice at the Hardy Plant Society sale in April. My friend talked about her rudeness all the way home last weekend. She had thought I exaggerated previously since she was so nice, helpful and friendly at the HPSO Sale and at Canby Mastergardener Sale too.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Rogerson pictures

  • janetpetiole
    13 years ago

    I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with Joy Creek. People can be idiots sometimes.

  • cohouser
    13 years ago

    Last year in June I flew out to Portland from Denver mostly for the purpose of seeing more clems in bloom than I could around here and observing their colors for myself. I went to Joy Creek (lotsa clems) and Rogerson collection (not impressive when I was there). By far my favorite was Silver Star. Debbie was very welcoming and the place was absolutely gorgeous. You'll see plenty of clems, but there are plantings of all kinds everywhere and lots of other visual delights.

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    13 years ago

    BorS - all I can say is wow! My in-person visit to Joy Creek couldn't have been better. It was a week day and later in the season so they were not busy, but even so Maurice took the time to give us a personal tour. None of the clems I was interested in - mostly species growing in their display gardens - were still in stock, which is why I bothered with mail order later.

    Sorry you had such a bad experience. Since I work retail myself and have for many years, I will not tolerate rudeness or poor customer service on that end and I would have called her out on it! I'm doing battle with another retail operation as we speak (not a nursery) that seems to think they can keep a sizeable deposit I placed against merchandise I no longer want. And the owner cannot be bothered to return phone calls or make any attempt to contact me to explain her position....if she has one. Do they not understand that the customer is their bread and butter??

  • flowergirl70ks
    13 years ago

    Some others-Swan Island Dahlias at Canby, if you get beyond Seattle, there is Molbachs at Anacordes I think. Maybe not quite that far up the coast.

  • buyorsell888
    13 years ago

    I know what Maurice looks like from seeing him on local gardening TV and he was not any of them who were rude to me.

    The day I drove out there for the one that turned out to be out of stock was a weekday and not at all busy.

    There were few there for the Clematis Festival, I was early. They were definitely open though. They were not still setting up or anything like that. I dared to interrupt their personal conversation so they turned their backs on me and moved off to continue it. I did say "excuse me may I ask a question?" I didn't just barge into their circle. However, they should not have been in a personal conversation in a circle with their backs to the customers at an open retail event in the first place.

    I would have called them out on it but I was so taken aback by it that I got teary and this was after I had been wandering around for half an hour and no one greeted me nor offered to help me that I approached them. No way was I going to let them see me teary so I got in my car and left.

    I also have low tolerance for poor customer service or rudeness which is why I've repeated this story more than once.....

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    13 years ago

    I don't blame you.....I'm tending to have a different feeling about the place now just based on what you've reported!

    Molbak's (not Molbachs) is located just north of Seattle in Woodinville - much closer than Anacortes!! But while it's an OK nursery, it is nothing special. Just big. And they are very heavy on annuals and houseplants, not so much on anything else. Nice cafe, tho. Emery's in Lynnwood and Swanson's right in Seattle are far batter, as is Wells-Medina in Bellevue. But what I really find appealing are the host of small specialty nurseries that line I5 between Portland and Seattle - it is worth taking your time driving between the two cities and stopping frequently along the way. And Cistus Nursery on Sauvie Island just outside of Portland is a "don't miss" if you are a plant collector - they will have stuff nobody else will.

  • buyorsell888
    13 years ago

    And I got great customer service at Cistus when I left Joy Creek and went there instead. They got my money too. They have loads of zone denial plants.....

  • flowergirl70ks
    13 years ago

    Thinking about the times I have been to Joy Creek, I have gotten to know those boys, and the girls in the shipping dept too. They have never been anything but nice to me. My daughter lives in Albany and my son-in-law always takes me to all the nice nurseries we can find, so I have been there many times. B or S, I think you must have gotten them on a very bad day. I live in Dodge City, Ks and they even recognise me when I get there.

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